LAS VEGAS (CelebrityAccess) – Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary, Rolling Stone has acquired a majority interest in the Las Vegas music festival, Life Is Beautiful, the company announced February 4.
The late Tony Hsieh, former CEO of Zappos, founded the festival in 2013 in an attempt to revitalize the Las Vegas downtown area. Since its inception, Variety reports it has played host to over 600 artists and has brought over $350M to the city. The most recent festival occurred in 2021 and featured Green Day, Billie Eilish and Tame Impala as headliners. It was reportedly attended by over 170,000 fans, and one of hte highest growwing events of its kind in 2021, despite the pandemic.
Rolling Stone CEO, Gus Wenner released a statement on the acquisition. “Live events are an integral part of Rolling Stone’s future and Life Is Beautiful is an incredible platform to realize this vision. Coupled with our significant digital scale and deep journalism, there are infinite possibilities to grow Life Is Beautiful in unique and impactful ways. I am grateful to have worked with Tony on this partnership and am proud to have Rolling Stone help carry forward his mission.”
Rolling Stone and PMC plan to “expand Life Is Beautiful into new territories and broaden its digital footprint,” according to the press release. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled to realize the potential of Life Is Beautiful in partnership with Rolling Stone,” said David Oehm, CEO of Life Is Beautiful. “As a landmark institution and touchstone of the music industry for over 50 years, the Rolling Stone team will help to deepen our connection to fans of music everywhere, while also championing the cultural initiatives that make Life Is Beautiful so much more than a music festival.”
In addition to Rolling Stone, PMC is also the parent company for Billboard, Art in America, Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Spy.com, among others. PMC is headquartered in New York and Los Angeles with 14 offices worldwide.
